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Frigate detections as Home Assistant notifications: from MQTT to conditions

Frigate does the detection; Home Assistant decides whether to notify.

Frigate publishes detections over MQTT1, and Home Assistant turns those events into automations. Both must see the same broker2, so configure the MQTT integration first, then add the Frigate integration.

Contents
Requirements and key details
  • The Frigate integration needs the MQTT integration configured first.
  • Enable MQTT in the Frigate configuration and point it at the same broker.
  • Narrowing alerts by person and zone reduces notification fatigue.

MQTT sits between detection and notification

Frigate finds people and vehicles in the camera streams and emits each result as an event. Home Assistant receives the event and runs an automation that turns on a light or sends a phone alert.

The two do not call each other directly; they talk through the broker. Without the MQTT integration, adding the Frigate integration will not produce working entities.

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Detections travel through the broker to Home Assistant, and the automation decides on the alert.

Enabling MQTT in Frigate

In the Frigate configuration, set mqtt.enabled, the broker address and the credentials. It must point at the same broker as Home Assistant, so match the address exactly.

Restart Frigate after the change and the log shows the broker connection. If it fails, check the username, password and port in that order.

Frigate MQTT configuration
mqtt:
  enabled: True
  host: 192.168.0.10
  user: mqtt-user
  password: your_password
Point it at the same broker as Home Assistant. Keep the password out of the main file where you can.

Installing the Frigate integration

Install Frigate from HACS, restart, then add the Frigate integration under Devices & services. Through the broker it exposes Frigate's cameras and events as entities.

To browse recordings in the media browser, media_source must be enabled. If alerts will include snapshots, check that setting too.

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Conditions on person and zone cut alerts from passing cars and pedestrians.

Building the notification automation

Trigger the automation on the MQTT event and notify only when the detected object is a person. Alerting on every vehicle and animal rings dozens of times a day and gets switched off.

Defining zones such as the porch or yard filters out passers-by. Adding a night-time condition makes the alerts far more useful.

Tuning to cut notification fatigue

One person lingering for a few seconds produces several detections and several alerts. Recording the last alert time and suppressing repeats for a while removes the duplicates.

Put the camera name and time in the message so the scene is obvious at a glance. To include a snapshot, check that the notification service accepts images.

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Record the last alert time to suppress duplicates.

Terminology notes

  1. MQTT — A lightweight messaging protocol in which devices and programs publish and subscribe through a broker. Only programs pointed at the same broker exchange values.

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  2. MQTT broker — The middle server that collects published MQTT values and passes them to subscribers. In Home Assistant the Mosquitto app fills that role.

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Frequently asked questions

What should you check first in this article?
Frigate publishes detections over MQTT, and Home Assistant turns those events into automations. Both must see the same broker, so configure the MQTT integration first, then add the Frigate integration.